Animal

If you squint, you can kind of see where Sandeep Venga's Animal is supposed to go. It's a character study about an unhinged man born into privilege but lacking in the most important qualities, obsessed with his father who never showed him the love he needed. He's drawn into a world of violence and crime, in a desperate attempt to impress him. That's an interesting concept; throw in some of the Successionesque business politics, and you could've had an incredible film. The movie certainly has the talented names - Ranbir Kapoor, Anil Kappor, Bobby Deol - to make it work.

Yet, Animal fails on basically every level. It feels like the creation of an annoying 14 year old Indian boy than a film, and can only be described as TOO MUCH. This 3 hour and 24 minutes feels like an eternity as we zip from scene to scene, moment to moment, without much time to breathe. Not to mention, the film just feels excessive and it's not entertaining. It's honestly an exhausting affair.

TOO MUCH brutality and gore. It's completely unnecessary, off putting, and difficult to watch. We're supposed to like our protagonist (more on him later), yet he's needlessly cruel and violent, like everyone at a certain point in this film. It feels really "off" tonally, and comes out of nowhere. The scene where Bobby Deol was introduced started off nicely, but then goes off the rails with the blood and gore, and it ruins it completely. Not to mention the unnecessary...sex scene. Yeah. More on THIS later too.

Ranbir Kapoor's Vijay is a psychopath, who is as mentioned before, cruel and violent, but unstable, rude, callous, condescending, misogynistic, and difficult to empathize with. We have to spend a bulk of the film with this man, and the movie is constantly asking us to sympathize and respect him, but he deserves none of it. I like films with "unlikable" protagonists, but a film has to give us a reason to connect with them from time to time. I don't want to hear anyone complain about Leo's Jordan Belfort ever again; a guy we know is terrible, but you can't help but like him. Vijay is not that.

The film is supposed to be about who is trying to kill Anil Kapoor's Papa (that's not his real name, but it might as well be, and to be fair, he's really good in this), and lead us into some corporate and maybe political intrigue. But the film wastes it with a paper thin, poorly told plot and villain's whose performers give it their all and are compelling via performance, but definitely terribly written. They're two dimensional and their motives feel rushed, and not to mention, the film can't help but be a bit Islamophobic as well. (There's subtext to these Modi era Bollywood movies).

But frankly, the worst thing about this movie is its celebration of toxic masculinity and misogyny. I'm no Bechdel Test wielding feminist, but my God, this movie really hates women. They're either doeish sex objects or lack any agency at all. There's a really dark and twisted attitude towards sex and relationships this movie portrays, glorifying domination, fear, and abuse, all whilst desperately trying to convince us the main couple have a happy and successful marriage. Vijay can't help but undermine and demean every other woman he sees, treating them as sexual objects, intimidating them, or insulting them. And what's disturbing is the movie seems to want to paint him as "the man men want to be, and the man women want to date."

There's legitimately a stretch of this film towards the end where I genuinely worried we'd see explicit violence against women, like some wife slapping or choking or worse, SA or the R word. I'm not joking. I saw this with three women. You can imagine how they felt.

Yeah, I'd maybe watch this high and laugh at with friends again, but for anyone else, PLEASE avoid this trashfire.

This absolute disaster of a movie easily clinches a spot in the bottom 5 films I've ever subjected myself to. It's a train wreck of a narrative, drowning any semblance of storytelling in a sea of mindless violence and gratuitous sexuality that serves no purpose other than to shock. The complete lack of coherence or meaning makes it an exercise in frustration, leaving me more confused than ever about why this abomination was made. The actors, shamelessly taking on roles that should have come with a warning label, only add to the misery. Watching this film was akin to reliving the regrettable experience of enduring "Rockstar" by Ranbir Kapoor, a true testament to the depths of cinematic disappointment. Do yourself a favor and spare yourself from this excruciating journey into the abyss of terrible filmmaking.

Ranbir Kapoor's introduction as a "superstar" in the film initially raised skepticism for me. However, as I reached the halfway point, it became evident that he truly deserved the title.

Sandeep Reddy Vanga's promise to showcase genuine violence in cinema was effectively fulfilled. In an era dominated by high-budget action films and contrived flashbacks, Vanga dared to create a world where everything is heightened to the maximum, making the violence seem normal and the behavior even more unsettling. One particularly striking scene involves Ranbir, who, after discovering a mole, compels the individual to lick his shoe as a bizarre demonstration of love. It's a level of intensity reminiscent of something Quentin Tarantino might appreciate.

Addressing the question of logic, it's acknowledged that the film, like many others, is inherently illogical. Drawing parallels with films like Vikram, KGF, and Bahubali, it's recognized that crafting a movie with absolute logical coherence is a formidable challenge.

However, the film does have its drawbacks. The character arcs of certain individuals, such as the mother, sister, and villain, felt underdeveloped. The hero's revenge arc could have benefited from more nuanced writing, and Rashmika's character, while an improvement from Vanga's previous works, still warranted additional depth.

In summary, while I wouldn't classify it as a masterpiece, the film has its merits, particularly in exploring the dynamics of father-son and husband-wife relationships alongside the intense action sequences. It's a unique cinematic experience that some may appreciate for its visceral yet somewhat polarizing elements.

Simply put it's a masterpiece !

The Director literally put his heart in this one, the complex relationship of Father and Son explained in a such a manner. I don't feel anyone ever dared to take such a step in Indian cinema. I literally enjoyed every minute of the movie it felt so realistic at times. Ranbir finally gave a great performance after Sanju!

I mean just look at the facts Sandeep made 200+mins movie which means fewer shows plus he made it adult for it to be raw and as real as possible both these things require guts everyone told me to cut the movie down and make it U/A but I am so glad he didn't.

Indian cinema these days have become very typical, like at times being a movie lover I find it difficult to understand that why are our writers and directors not being creative or trying something new/ different/ interesting.

But finally we are seeing creative movies and trust me the background score, Acting, music, costumes everything was just wow !

And I know there will be people who might find this movie too bold, too strong, lengthy and violent. I don't oppose to such things I just feel we should appreciate that atleast someone tried to break the status quo and make such a bold movie.

A movie about a son's (RK) love for his father (AK) and to what extreme he goes to destroy and execute those who want to harm his father! The movies focus is on RK who nailed his role perfectly as the animal he becomes on the road of revenge! Anil Kapoor played his role well. Rashmika's role wasn't special could have been played by any actress the rest of the cast were good. Bobby Deol's extended cameo ( only came at the end part of the movie) was pure swagger mixed with rage should have used more time on his character. Overall first half was epic but slows down after the interval the movie could have been shorter but if u like RK and love brutal loud action scenes then go watch it! *Not one for the family (very violent and has repetitive pointless kissing scenes and partial nudity) 7.5/10 👍🏽